Launch of the monitoring committee for the 2021-2027 European funds programme. From left: Régis Elbez, Secretary General of Regional Affairs Guadeloupe; Director General of Services at the Collectivité Albert Holl; Préfet Vincent Berton; and European Commission Directorate General member Andréa Murgia. (Photo Journal 97150)
MARIGOT--It was announced just recently at a launch of the monitoring committee for the 2021-2027 new programming of European funds at Anse Marcel Beach that for the first time, 200 million euros will be available to St. Martin, but with a caveat that the funds must be spent by 2027.
Préfet Délégué Vincent Berton explained that due to the health crisis, the programme is only being launched now in 2023. “The envelope of almost 200 million euros allocated to St. Martin will have to be spent before this 2027 deadline," he confirmed.
Until now, the territory of St. Martin was included in an envelope dedicated to Guadeloupe. While the supervisory authority remains the Secretary General for Regional Affairs of Guadeloupe (SGRA), the instruction and support of project leaders is now transferred in part to the Collectivité for regional development fund ERDF and in part to the delegated Préfecture of St. Martin and Saint-Barthélemy for other funds.
European funds are the drivers for economic development, structural investment and social cohesion, and are divided into several categories: the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Fund for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Aquaculture FEAMPA and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).
The ERDF also includes an envelope for cross-border cooperation (INTERREG Fund) with Dutch St. Maarten and the wider Caribbean region. Each of these funds is associated with a number of priorities, which project sponsors must address in order to be eligible.
For ERDF funds, which have been allocated 58.8 million euros (20 million more than in the previous programming period 2014-2020), the priority areas are digital development, improving business competitiveness and ecological transition. ESF has 19 million euros (compared with 16.6 million for 2014-2020) and priorities are training, access to employment and the integration of vulnerable groups.
There has been a significant increase in the FEAMPA envelope (three million euros versus 0.769 million euros for the 2014-2020 programme), reflecting the determination of local authorities to structure and develop the fishing sector by allocating aid for the purchase of equipment to players in the sector, but also to compensate for additional expenses. On this subject, Berton emphasised the need to set up a fishermen’s committee.
As for the EAFRD, an envelope of two million euros has been allocated to the agricultural and rural sector, less than the previous envelope of around three million euros.
As a reminder, in addition to these substantial funds, St. Martin also benefits from an envelope of almost 36 million euros as part of REACT-EU, a stimulus package set up by the European Union, the funds for which must be spent by the end of this year, 2023.
To optimise its proximity to citizens, the Collectivité has taken on the task of examining applications for part of the ERDF funds allocated to business economic development. In addition to welcoming project promoters to the Collectivité's dedicated department, Albert Holl in the General Services Department explained that an online platform will shortly be set up to guide project promoters through the complex process of preparing their applications.
For access to ESF funds, calls for projects will be published from the second half of 2023 on the ma-demarche-fse-plus.fr and europe-a-saint-martin.eu websites.
For further information, project sponsors are invited to contact the “Europe Units” at the Collectivité and the Préfecture.
